CLEVELAND — Davone Bess has known a rough road away from football, beginning with the fact that
while his mom was pregnant with him at age 15, his grandmother was also pregnant.

At age 10, Bess witnessed the murder of his uncle at a birthday party, and the native of
Hayward, Calif., near Oakland later spent 21 months in a juvenile facility after allowing a friend
to put stolen items in his car.

“That’s life,” Bess said. “I’m on a journey.”

So the Cleveland Browns receiver wasn’t going to be held down by a subpar performance — three
dropped passes and fumbled fourth-quarter punt — during a 23-17 loss at Kansas City on Oct. 27.

“I felt bad letting the guys down last week, but I just stayed the course and didn’t let my
emotions get the best of me,” Bess said.

Bess bounced back yesterday by catching two touchdowns from Jason Campbell in a 24-18 victory
over Baltimore.

Campbell and Bess also hooked up for a 3-yard completion on fourth down that resulted in a first
down with three minutes remaining to play and the Browns ahead by three.

“I was able to get underneath it,” Bess said of his diving catch.

Bess, a six-year veteran and offseason acquisition, entered the game with a NFL-high eight
dropped passes this season, but he dropped none yesterday. His three catches totaled 24 yards. Bess
also fair caught two punts.

“He came to me Monday and said, ‘I’m going to be there for you this week,’ ” Campbell said. “I
told him I already believed it. You don’t play in this league this long by going into the
tank."

Campbell’s ribs hurt

Campbell was still waiting for results of postgame X-rays on his ribs when the met the media to
discuss the injury that briefly knocked him out of the game late in the first quarter.

“I don’t know the severity of (the rib injury), but I doubt that they’re broken,” said Campbell,
who has a bye week to heal.

Campbell was injured with 2:02 remaining in the first quarter when 340-pound Baltimore nose
tackle Haloti Ngata fell on him during a scramble. Although Ngata was called for a personal foul,
Campbell didn’t consider it to be a cheap shot.

“Ngata told me he wasn’t trying to do anything on purpose,” Campbell said. “He’s not a dirty
player. He’s really a good stand-up football player. He came to me after the game and
apologized."

Campbell was replaced for four snaps by Brandon Weeden, but returned to produce a 116.6 passer
rating. “They were going to have to drag me out of the game,” said Campbell, a nine-year veteran
whose 105.4 rating a week earlier against Kansas City had been the highest of the season for Browns
quarterbacks.

Brownie bites

Cleveland receiver Greg Little had a career-high seven receptions for 122 yards before leaving
the game early in the fourth quarter because of a shoulder injured suffered on a 46-yard reception.
He also had two unsportsmanlike penalties in the first half. … The Browns entered the game 26th in
the NFL in rushing and the Ravens were 28th. They showed why, each averaging 2.6 yards per carry
yesterday. The Browns finished with 73 rushing yards and the Ravens 55. … The teams combined for 15
penalties and eight sacks. … The Browns are 10 of 19 on fourth-down conversion attempts.